DavidSeven wrote:I'm sure this place would melt down, but it's a long season and early loss at 10AM to a pretty solid Panthers team would not be the end of the world. This is the Any Given Sunday league.

We lost at Arizona last year. That loss shocked me. Yet we ended up 30 seconds (or a healthy Clem) away from the NFC Championship game.

DavidSeven wrote:I'm sure this place would melt down, but it's a long season and an early loss at 10AM to a pretty solid Panthers team would not be the end of the world. This is the Any Given Sunday league.

We lost at Arizona last year. That loss shocked me. Yet we ended up 30 seconds (or a healthy Clem) away from the NFC Championship game.

Week 1 doesn't make or break your season.

This, exactly.

While I'm more confident in our team's chances on the road in any given week than I have been in a long time, road games are still going to be harder than home games. Especially early games three time zones away.

Add in the usual Week 1 upset potential and the fact that the team the Seahawks will be facing was one of the hottest teams down the stretch last year (they finished 5-1 in their last 6 games), and it's entirely possible for Seattle to lose their first game.

But that doesn't mean a thing when it comes to the season as a whole.

8 of the last 10 SB champs lost one of their first 3 games, many of them losing their first road game. Hell, the 2007 Giants started off 0-2 and still won it all.

Sure, getting out to a 6-0 or 7-0 start is nice because it gives you more room for error, but I can tell you that I'd rather finish on a hot streak far more than start on a hot streak.

MissoulaHawkFan wrote:Ugggh...i chose the middle option. I dread to see what this place'll look like should we lose week 1.

That's why I won't be here for a day or two after until it calms down. Either way it would be shocking but not the end of the season if it does happen. We lost last year and nearly made the NFC championship so a week 1 loss does not make or break your season.

43-8...it's all about that action boss....I'm just here so I won't get fined...

Hard to say, but the media would be breaking their ankles to create a controversy and this place would be hard to visit b/c of negativity.

Even with a SuperBowl quality team and a Championship year there will be bumps in the road. The race to the big game is a marathon not a sprint and many would need to chill out and trust the talent here to get it done in the long run.

To me it wouldn't make too much difference but the team should win the ones they ought to win.

Until we develop a pass rush that will cause opposing teams to be forced to scheme to defend it we will never be able to completely take the final step. That was done and the final step was taken. The OLine still needs work.

It would stink to lose the opener. The national media hype bubble would burst (which isn't a bad thing), local talk radio would be melting down and the fire XXX threads would be in full bloom.

The Panthers played the Seahawks pretty tight last season and should have won if Cam doesn't turf the football on the 4th and goal. Trufant and Browner's tackle at the 1 was pretty crucial as well. I am sure the majority of folks will have this game as a victory, but the Seahawks have never dominated the Panthers in Charlotte and I don't expect it to happen this season either.

Expecting a win, hoping for a win. Will be disappointed if the team loses but I will lick my wounds and move on.

I would be shocked, honestly. While their offense can be very productive, their defense is awful. I mean awful awful. For us to lose to Carolina in week one we'd have to have a really bad day on both sides of the ball.

Historically, west coast teams on the east coast at 10AM only win 22% of their games. On average, we should win ONE of these games, going 1-4. A playoff caliber team should at least go 2-3. An extremely dominant team might go 3-2. In 2011, when SF went 13-3, they squeaked out two of their 10AM east coast games against an 8-8 Philly team and a 9-7 Bengal team by a combined 6 points. Last year in their only 10AM east coast game, they drubbed a lowly NYJ club. Yeah, that's right, we play more 10AM east coast games than SF played the last two years combined. Way to try to keep a good team down NFL.

We don't play any scrub teams on the road at 10AM this year. Not one of those teams is as bad as the three teams SF played in the past three years. Winning 2 of those 5 will be hard, but not impossible. Win 3 and I think it will show this team is the Super Bowl favorite. Of all those teams, Carolina is the most beatable IMO. So if we lose that game, we're still a playoff team, but it won't bode well for us taking 2 of the next 4 10AM games. I think we beat Carolina, we beat Indy, but Houston, Atlanta and the Gints will all be tough ones to win. I think we still make the playoffs if we lose to Carolina, but I don't think, with SF's easy road schedule, that we win the division.

Richard Sherman doesn't just wanna get in your head, he wants to build a vacation home there.

R. Sherman: "I don't want to be an island. I want to be a tourist attraction. You come, I take your money & you go."

The opener is a HUGE game. With the 49ers coming into town in Week #2, we really don't want to start 0-1 and have lots of extra pressure to win that one. Conversely, it's possible the 49ers head into that game at 0-1 as well as they play the Packers in Week #1 so who knows. It would be great to hang 0-2 on them out of the gate. As much as we like to rub the Whiners fans noses in the crap of that 42-13 ownage last December, come this season it means nothing. The one thing to feel strongly about is C Link will be rocking, it's our home opener, it's SNF, and I think our defense will really handle the Niners without Crabtree.

Playing in Carolina at 10 am, most likely in considerable heat and humidity, is not going to be an easy task. We were lucky to get out of there last season with a win, although our offense was still clunking along. If Newton would have thrown an easy pass to an open receiver, we would have last that game.

I wouldn't be surprised if we lost in Carolina, but I agree this place would be a Carnival of Kneejerk Catastrophe.

Every week this season is truly huge. We MUST win the West, if not get HFA. That was our script during the 2005 season of glory. I'd much rather have two home games to win to get to the Super Bowl instead of having to go on the road again.

Historically, west coast teams on the east coast at 10AM only win 22% of their games. On average, we should win ONE of these games, going 1-4. A playoff caliber team should at least go 2-3. An extremely dominant team might go 3-2. In 2011, when SF went 13-3, they squeaked out two of their 10AM east coast games against an 8-8 Philly team and a 9-7 Bengal team by a combined 6 points. Last year in their only 10AM east coast game, they drubbed a lowly NYJ club. Yeah, that's right, we play more 10AM east coast games than SF played the last two years combined. Way to try to keep a good team down NFL.

We don't play any scrub teams on the road at 10AM this year. Not one of those teams is as bad as the three teams SF played in the past three years. Winning 2 of those 5 will be hard, but not impossible. Win 3 and I think it will show this team is the Super Bowl favorite. Of all those teams, Carolina is the most beatable IMO. So if we lose that game, we're still a playoff team, but it won't bode well for us taking 2 of the next 4 10AM games. I think we beat Carolina, we beat Indy, but Houston, Atlanta and the Gints will all be tough ones to win. I think we still make the playoffs if we lose to Carolina, but I don't think, with SF's easy road schedule, that we win the division.

I see Carolina as must win and a split between Houston and Indianapolis and Atlanta and NYG as the best case scenerio but less than likely. More likely is 2-3 and we must win the Thursday and Monday games against the Cardinals and Rams that would leave us at 4-4 maybe 5-3 on the road and that should be enough for at least the number 2 seed and with 1 home game and roll the dice in the NFC championship.

43-8...it's all about that action boss....I'm just here so I won't get fined...

Historically, west coast teams on the east coast at 10AM only win 22% of their games. On average, we should win ONE of these games, going 1-4. A playoff caliber team should at least go 2-3. An extremely dominant team might go 3-2. In 2011, when SF went 13-3, they squeaked out two of their 10AM east coast games against an 8-8 Philly team and a 9-7 Bengal team by a combined 6 points. Last year in their only 10AM east coast game, they drubbed a lowly NYJ club. Yeah, that's right, we play more 10AM east coast games than SF played the last two years combined. Way to try to keep a good team down NFL.

We don't play any scrub teams on the road at 10AM this year. Not one of those teams is as bad as the three teams SF played in the past three years. Winning 2 of those 5 will be hard, but not impossible. Win 3 and I think it will show this team is the Super Bowl favorite. Of all those teams, Carolina is the most beatable IMO. So if we lose that game, we're still a playoff team, but it won't bode well for us taking 2 of the next 4 10AM games. I think we beat Carolina, we beat Indy, but Houston, Atlanta and the Gints will all be tough ones to win. I think we still make the playoffs if we lose to Carolina, but I don't think, with SF's easy road schedule, that we win the division.

AbsolutNET wrote:Losing a road opener is never a shock. I think we're the better team and are capable of winning, but a loss at the first game on the other side of the country wouldn't be a huge deal, I don't think.

It didn't slow down the '05 team which looked very poor in their road opener at Jax. I'm with this - though wouldn't be thrilled either.

|~=[==~||~==]=~| ||Tfs LnD ] [ HAWKS||RIP BFS. He was kind of a douche, but he was our kind of a douche.

For the love of everything holy, the game kicks off at 1:00 local time in Carolina, not 10:00 am. It is only 10:00 am where most of you are. Arrrrggghhh.!!! (Pulls more hair out...)

Earliness has nothing to do with it you goofballs. And I don't want to hear any freaking stats, so spare me.

I hope we lose the first game only for the purposes of backing-off the media hype, and allowing the team to know what it feels like early on. Then they can settle in and go about kicking heiney the rest of the way.

Losing is the last step in becoming a winner.

"...Seattle has become the capital city of the New NFL" - Kip Earlywine Remembering "The Radish"...

chris98251 wrote:One thing would be needed, a cage around Seahawks. Net to protect the members from the 49ers fans wanting to have a pound of flesh.

Are you kidding? They are more likely to lose week one than we are. The packers are taking them out in week one. I would say there is a very fair chance that week two is a battle of two 0-1 teams for our home opener and by "very fair" I mean 30-35%.

"Some people here have been groomed to accept mediocrity and lame ducks, I'm on board with the vibrato!" -SouthSoundHawk "BFS is kicking ass in here." -kearly (8/9/2013)

HoustonHawk82 wrote:For the love of everything holy, the game kicks off at 1:00 local time in Carolina, not 10:00 am. It is only 10:00 am where most of you are. Arrrrggghhh.!!! (Pulls more hair out...)

Earliness has nothing to do with it you goofballs. And I don't want to hear any freaking stats, so spare me.

So, are you of the mind that the concepts of jetlag and body clocks are complete fabrications? Genuinely curious. You tell us not to quote you the stats, but let's face it, the stats undeniably demonstrate that west coast teams perform poorly at 10:00 AM PST (or 1:00 PM EST). I'm not sure why you're so outraged at people bringing up the idea that 10:00 AM games are tough when both the stats and our eyeballs back it up.

I think a lot of people are underestimating the Panthers... Do I think they're a playoff team, no. But it wouldn't surprise me if SEA lost (tough road opener environment).

Week 1 & 2:

I think the most likely scenario is the SEA win both @ Carolina and vs. the 49ers... They start 2-0. The Niners win at home vs. the Pack, but lose at SEA. Rams win at home vs. the Cardinals and lose in ATL; and the Cardinals lose at the Rams and win at home vs. the Lions...

NinerBuff wrote:I think a lot of people are underestimating the Panthers... Do I think they're a playoff team, no. But it wouldn't surprise me if SEA lost (tough road opener environment).

Week 1 & 2:

I think the most likely scenario is the SEA win both @ Carolina and vs. the 49ers... They start 2-0. The Niners win at home vs. the Pack, but lose at SEA. Rams win at home vs. the Cardinals and lose in ATL; and the Cardinals lose at the Rams and win at home vs. the Lions...

That's some nice koolaid you be drinkin'.....our road schedule is hard but let's not get ridiculous it's more likely....

Seattle 12-4SF 11-5Lambs 8-8 Cards 6-10

49ers are no better than last year and Crabtree's loss will hurt. Seattle is better than last year. The Rams are NOT going to sneak up on anybody this year and their WR corps is too young. And Carson Palmer is light years ahead of anything the Cards had last year and they do get their Tackle back and they got that G Cooper or Womack forget which so that OL should be better.

Last edited by MizzouHawkGal on Fri Jul 05, 2013 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

43-8...it's all about that action boss....I'm just here so I won't get fined...

Agreed, that's why the game is about as important as a week 1 game can be from a tone setting perspective. It won't kill the season if we lose but it sure would set us on the right foot for that Houston/Indianapolis pairing and from there the ball can really get rolling if it goes right.

43-8...it's all about that action boss....I'm just here so I won't get fined...

KCHawkGirl wrote:That's some nice koolaid you be drinkin'.....our road schedule is hard but let's not get ridiculous it's more likely....

Seattle 12-4SF 11-5Lambs 8-8 Cards 6-10

49ers are no better than last year and Crabtree's loss will hurt. Seattle is better than last year. The Rams are NOT going to sneak up on anybody this year and their WR corps is too young. And Carson Palmer is light years ahead of anything the Cards had last year and they do get their Tackle back and they got that G Cooper or Womack forget which so that OL should be better.

You may be right about the Cardinals, but I think you're not giving the Rams enough credit. Still, the road games...

There really isn't any gimmes there. The easiest opponent (Arizona) is on a Thursday, and statistically, road teams on TNF games are bad. I think you guys win one of the Texans / Colts / Falcons / Giants games, even if I put all of those games as loses above.

KCHawkGirl wrote:That's some nice koolaid you be drinkin'.....our road schedule is hard but let's not get ridiculous it's more likely....

Seattle 12-4SF 11-5Lambs 8-8 Cards 6-10

49ers are no better than last year and Crabtree's loss will hurt. Seattle is better than last year. The Rams are NOT going to sneak up on anybody this year and their WR corps is too young. And Carson Palmer is light years ahead of anything the Cards had last year and they do get their Tackle back and they got that G Cooper or Womack forget which so that OL should be better.

You may be right about the Cardinals, but I think you're not giving the Rams enough credit. Still, the road games...

There really isn't any gimmes there. The easiest opponent (Arizona) is on a Thursday, and statistically, road teams on TNF games are bad. I think you guys win one of the Texans / Colts / Falcons / Giants games, even if I put all of those games as loses above.

Titans and Jags should be gimmes, I doubt they win @ SEA or @ STL, but I think they can win 1 or 2 of the Bucs / Saints / Redskins games

Essentially, for two good teams, our away schedule gives us another 2 wins, and we get 1 less home win than you guys...

I don't worry about New Orleans (bad defense and Ryan's scheme takes serious time to learn and it's a MNF we are locks on that night home or away just look it up) knowing that we take the Rams in StL because MNF, the game I worry about is the Cards on Thurs because the road usually loses those games no matter what. I am in disagreement with most here in thinking Houston will be our victory in the Houston/Indy pair but either would serve and going by the stats Indy's defense is worse.......NYG is beatable and well Atlanta.....we should have won last year so that should be an interesting game that if one week later would be a flex game for sure.

43-8...it's all about that action boss....I'm just here so I won't get fined...

The story line with Crabtree will definitely be a big one... But Vernon was really a non-factor until the NFCCG with Kaep. Plus the addition of Anquan will alleviate some of the loss. But there's no way around losing your best receiving option. I do find it interesting that Vegas didn't move our line for SB favorites (in fact, Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, LVH, actually dropped the odds from 6-1 down to 5-1... http://www.ninersnation.com/2013/6/25/4 ... s-division) and we stayed at 11.5 wins after the Crabtree injury.

Interestingly, with Gronk injuries and Hernandez's date with the big house, the Pats didn't move either.

Division odds:

SF: 5/6SEA: 11/10STL: 10/1ARI: 30/1

Now, 5/6 and 11/10 are really close and Vegas is in the business of making $$ not necessarily picking the winners. They want even $$ on both sides. Still, it is interesting that losing the #1 WR didn't change the numbers, and in fact, actually improved the line.

HoustonHawk82 wrote:For the love of everything holy, the game kicks off at 1:00 local time in Carolina, not 10:00 am. It is only 10:00 am where most of you are. Arrrrggghhh.!!! (Pulls more hair out...)

Earliness has nothing to do with it you goofballs. And I don't want to hear any freaking stats, so spare me.

So, are you of the mind that the concepts of jetlag and body clocks are complete fabrications? Genuinely curious. You tell us not to quote you the stats, but let's face it, the stats undeniably demonstrate that west coast teams perform poorly at 10:00 AM PST (or 1:00 PM EST). not sure why you're so outraged at people bringing up the idea that 10:00 AM games are tough when both the stats and our eyeballs back it up.

So, do you think Chuck Norris can't kick the same guy's ass at 8:00am as he can at 1:00 in the afternoon? If he lost the fight in the morning, and won at 1:00pm, would he blame it on the time of day or on timezone differences? Nope. He is a finely-tuned fighting machine no matter where he is at or what time it is.

The team is from Seattle, and because the sun runs east to west, the clock is different. The only difference is what time you go to sleep the night before, and if the crowd screams when you are on offense, or when you are on defense.

Pro athlete? Train correctly. Sleep correctly. Eat correctly. Get good advice (when you can) and make sure you wear the correct size shoes. Follow the rules. When the whistle blows you will be ready to play or you will be replaced. Doesn't matter where the little hand and the big hand are on a clock, it is where that big yellow orb is in the sky is that is important.

"...Seattle has become the capital city of the New NFL" - Kip Earlywine Remembering "The Radish"...

If we are going to seriously contend for a Super Bowl, home field advantage will be key. Look at our schedule, we just can't afford to drop games to sub-par or mediocre teams. Last year was the "growing year" in my eyes, the year when we struggled against inferior teams like Detroit and Miami. And you know what, those games are what ultimately cost us a trip to the NFC championship and possibly the Super Bowl. This year MUST be the year where we capitalize on our potential and allow no surprises or slips. It's going to be dead heat between us and the 49ers down the stretch. So yeah, a loss to the Panthers would be shocking.

DavidSeven wrote:I'm sure this place would melt down, but it's a long season and an early loss at 10AM to a pretty solid Panthers team would not be the end of the world. This is the Any Given Sunday league.

We lost at Arizona last year. That loss shocked me. Yet we ended up 30 seconds (or a healthy Clem) away from the NFC Championship game.

Week 1 doesn't make or break your season.

Good post. But I also can't help but to see the flip side... we finished last regular season one win away from the division title and a home playoff game. A week one loss to a team we should fairly easily handle would put us behind the 8-ball.

"You can hurry up all you want. But if you can't get yards and can't complete passes, then it's just quick three-and-outs." -- Richard Sherman

I feel like some people are underrating the Panthers here, though if they are still in the position of running guys like Captain Munnerlyn out there at corner, Seattle should have a better team that wins on a neutral field seven times out of ten or so.

"If given the opportunity without fear of incarceration, I would honestly beat the living **** out of Jerry Rice."